Ripped Away
by DragonessIsabella
Summary: What if Dr. Swann betrays Clark and has him taken away? Post Rosetta. Rating is for swearing in later on chapters. (Updated January 25! Finally!)
1. Deal

Author's Note: OK here is a story that I had been thinking about doing a story like this, I just didn't know where to place it. I know that most people want to read about what happens after Exodus, but I am so mad at the ending of the season. So instead this story takes place almost right after Rosetta.  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah so I don't own Smallville or it's characters or the Welcome to Smallville sign. (Winks)  
  
Pairing: Eventual Clark and Lana but don't expect it to be until the end. Sorry but that's how the story goes.  
  
Feedback: Yeah I like feedback. I'll take compliments and praise. And if you flame me, I'll try to consider your suggestions.  
  
Summary: What if Dr. Swann betrays Clark and has him taken away? Post Rosetta  
  
Ripped Away  
  
Chapter 1: Deal  
  
Dr. Virgil Swann stared at his computer screen intensely. He read through the document once and then twice. He continually scrolled up and down the screen trying to come to a decision. He felt slightly uncomfortable working with Lionel Luthor but even with all of Swann's money, he didn't have the resources needed to pull this off.  
  
Swann heard a door open and one of his assistants leading Lionel Luthor in. Lionel walked in and sat down in front of Swann without saying a word.  
  
"Is everything ready?" Swann asked.  
  
"The facility is set up, the men have gone through their training simulations and we have the farm under surveillance." Lionel said.  
  
"When are you going to do the operation?" Swann asked.  
  
"Tomorrow." Lionel said. "So I have kept my side, how about you."  
  
"Don't worry. Once I get the research done, I'll send you the files." Swann said.  
  
"Is there anything else?" Lionel asked.  
  
"Yeah. I want to be there." Swann said. "I'm leaving in fifteen minutes. I chartered a flight to Metropolis."  
  
Lionel chuckled. "Why would you want to be there?" Lionel asked. "From what you have told me, he could easily kill us all."  
  
"I know but that's why you have all that special equipment." Swann replied.  
  
"Tell me again why I am helping you." Lionel said.  
  
"Because even though you believe you have no friends, I am your only one." Swann said. "And because we do trust each other."  
  
"Oh yes." Lionel said. "I almost forgot."  
  
"Do you want to come as well?" Swann asked.  
  
"No I rather not." Lionel said. "I can't have public appearances."  
  
"Yeah I suppose the story that they are government officials wouldn't work if you were standing there." Swann said with a laugh.  
  
"No it wouldn't." Lionel agreed with a laugh.  
  
"Oh and did I mention that the jet to Metropolis has an empty seat?" Swann asked. "Would you like to at least come along back to Metropolis?"  
  
"I better not." Lionel said. "I need to get some business done first."  
  
"It's Lex too isn't it?" Swann asked.  
  
"Ah yes Lex." Lionel said with a sigh. "If I were to arrive with you and then Lex some how finding out about Clark Kent's kidnapping, he will be all over me."  
  
"Good point." Swann said. "Well I must be going."  
  
"Well I guess I shall speak with you sometime next week." Lionel said getting up.  
  
"Yes. Good bye Lionel." Swann said.  
  
Lionel left and Swann returned to his computer and continued to read over some of the files.  
  
"Sir? We are ready to take you to the airport." The man said.  
  
"Thank you Stewart." Swann said. Stewart came up behind Swann and wheeled him out of his office. Some of Swann's workers were loading up a van.  
  
Five hours, one plane and helicopter ride later Swann was in Smallville. His group of people loaded various items into vans and cars. Men were walking around in fake ID badges and trying to look intimidating. Swann knew that they had been briefed somewhat about Clark's abilities and so they were a bit nervous. They were however ex-marines, ex-FBI, ex-CIA and Swann was sure some of them were ex-mercenaries, so they were good at following protocol and orders. They knew if they followed the game plan, everything would go smoothly and then they would get paid.  
  
Swann supervised the recheck of equipment, weapons and everything else. He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. Finally at around 12:15, the people started to load into separate vehicles. Swann was the last one in the car though. The vehicle he was in was going to stop a few miles back to let the people first capture Clark and then he would show up. It was mostly for safety measures on his part.  
  
Swann's vehicles stopped short and Swann watched the other vehicles continue down the road, excitement definitely building.  
  
TBC  
  
OK I know that I will probably get a few flames from making Swann seem evil but I was thinking on the whole what if idea. It actually started off as just a simple Clark being taken away story but then afterwards I though, well who would have enough information about Clark to do this? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks (I got the bumps to prove it). Swann. Swann is the perfect person to pin this idea on. But I will apologize because I know that we all love Christopher Reeve as a good guy and as the original Superman.  
  
So get ready for the next chapter: Compromise. 


	2. Compromise

Chapter 2: Compromise  
  
Clark, his parents, Pete, Chloe and Lana were all digging into the barbeque that Martha and Jonathan had made when Clark looked in the distance and saw that parade of the black vehicles. His heart began to beat faster and he broke out into a sweat. He remembered watching those movies about the FBI and other people like that coming to take somebody away in black cars.  
  
Pete was the first to notice Clark's tenseness and he looked to where Clark was staring intensely. Pete couldn't see anything except a large dust cloud from the road that came up from somebody driving down the street, only this one looked wrong even to Pete. The dust was continuing to rise, indicating that there were several vehicles.  
  
"Clark honey? What's the matter?" Martha asked worriedly when she looked over at her son and saw terror in his eyes.  
  
But Clark couldn't answer. He found himself petrified. He didn't like the feeling; it was something alien to him. Martha looked around instead and saw the cars too. In that instant, all of the nightmares that she had had when Clark was younger seemed to be coming true. Jonathan saw the cars too. Pete knew why the Kent's were acting like this but Chloe and Lana were mystified.  
  
"Clark? What's wrong?" Chloe asked.  
  
Instead Jonathan got up and came around to his son and grabbed him somewhat roughly from the shoulders.  
  
"Clark? Run ok. Run. We'll take care of anything." Jonathan said.  
  
Clark shook his head, not taking his eyes away from the tirade of vehicles. He concentrated hard and saw that all the vehicles were lead lined which meant two things, they knew about his abilities and they knew about the meteor rocks.  
  
Clark was finally able to move his tongue. "No." Clark said in a raspy voice. "But they got meteor rocks."  
  
"How do you know Clark?" Pete asked.  
  
"The vehicles are lead lined." Clark said.  
  
Martha couldn't help but burst into tears. It was obvious that who ever these men were, they were here to take Clark away.  
  
"What's going on?" Lana asked, seeing the fright in everybody's eyes except for her and Chloe. But the fright was starting to rub off on her.  
  
"Clark. This is your last chance. Run away ok?" Jonathan said.  
  
"But what about you guys?" Clark asked starting to slightly panic.  
  
"We can take care of ourselves." Jonathan said.  
  
"Come on Clark." Pete urged. "You have to go. I don't want to see you get hurt."  
  
Clark got up but he didn't run. "I am not running away." Clark said bravely, which was the exact opposite of how he felt. He too had nightmares for a while after finding out about his origin. But after he thought that it would have happened before then if somebody knew.  
  
The cars came in and parked. Men with what looked like modified guns spilled out of the vehicles, yelling orders to each other.  
  
"Oh god." Clark whispered.  
  
The men continued to come out of the vehicles and then finally everything just seemed to stop. The armed men staring at everyone on the Kent property and everyone on the Kent property staring at the armed men. Finally after what seemed like hours, the man who was obviously in charge stepped away from the men and boldly walked to where Martha and Jonathan were standing.  
  
"Are you Martha and Jonathan Kent?" The man asked.  
  
"Who wants to know?" Pete asked stepping up beside them.  
  
"CIA." The man said pulling out a badge and showing it to the Kent's and Pete. "Do you know why we are here?"  
  
Jonathan decided to stall. "Maybe we do and maybe we don't." Jonathan said.  
  
"We are here to take ah Clark Kent into custody." The man said, saying Clark Kent in a cruel manner.  
  
Clark ducked down to speak to the girls in a whisper. "You guys better go. I don't want to see you get hurt." Clark said.  
  
"Why do the CIA want to put you in custody?" Chloe asked kicking into reporter mode.  
  
"If I make it out of this, I promise to tell you everything. Everything." Clark said, emphasizing everything.  
  
Lana realized what he meant by it but she shook her head. "We're not going anywhere." Lana said firmly.  
  
"But I can't protect you." Clark said.  
  
"What do you want with Clark?" Martha asked.  
  
"We are here to take Clark to a facility to do tests on him." The man said honestly. "And you can't stop us."  
  
The man turned back to the group of men and nodded his head. Ten of the men came out and stood beside the man, all of them had their guns up and ready to shoot.  
  
"Please don't make this hard." The man said pleadingly.  
  
"Over my dead body." Jonathan said taking a step forward. One of them men shot the gun right at Jonathan's head. Martha screamed and Pete jumped back. When everyone dared to look back, they saw Clark in front of his dad hand out blocking the bullet.  
  
Clark fell to the ground though and Pete saw that it was a bullet coated with meteor rocks. Clark started break out in a violent sweat as his veins started to wither and stick out from his skin. Clark stared at his hand in amazement, blood trickling down his hand.  
  
Pete dropped to his knees beside Clark and pulled a pocketknife from his pocket. He opened the blade and looked at Clark. Clark nodded at what Pete was going to do. Pete concentrated on using the blade to wedge the bullet out and he did it in a few seconds. Pete then stood up and threw the bullet back in the direction of them men's car.  
  
Clark got unsteadily back up and stared at his healing hand. The men watched Clark do all this in amazement. A man from the group of people by the cars ran to the man and whispered something in his ear.  
  
"Come on Clark. Come quietly and we won't hurt your friends." The man said.  
  
"No I won't leave." Clark said. "This is my home."  
  
"You don't have a home." The man said tauntingly. "You don't belong."  
  
Clark looked off into the distance and saw another car coming. They pulled in farther than the other vehicles. They parked almost right next to the man.  
  
Men jumped out from the vehicle and they went to the back of the vehicle where they opened the doors and pulled down a ramp. One of the men walked up the ramp and then wheeled someone down.  
  
Clark could feel the effects of the meteor rocks immediately again. He saw that Swann was wearing the symbol friend of the kryptonian language made out of green meteor rocks.  
  
"Dr. Swann?" Clark asked, disbelief lacing his voice.  
  
"Don't be so surprise Kal'El." Swann said.  
  
"How could you?" Clark demanded angrily. "I trusted you!"  
  
"Well I think you should invest your trust more wisely." Swann said.  
  
"Damn you." Pete said stepping in front of Swann.  
  
"Ah you must know about Clark to act so protective of him." Swann said.  
  
A man stepped out and shoved Pete down hard. "I am also protecting him." Swann said. "From himself."  
  
Three men stepped out and picked up Clark. They started to drag him away. It was then that it hit Clark full force what they were doing. He started to kick out and struggle.  
  
"No! No! NO!" Clark screamed out. "Don't take me away please. Don't take me away!"  
  
Martha ran out and grabbed one of the men by the collar and shook them. "You get away from my son." Martha yelled angrily. Martha started to pound hard on the man's chest.  
  
"He's not your son." The man said cruelly. "He's not even human."  
  
The man ordered for them to continue but Swann spoke up. "Wait." Swann called out. "We may need him as leverage."  
  
Men started to pour out and they grabbed everyone and forced them to their knees. Then they tied them all up in rope that had meteor rocks tied to them. The men, who had been carrying Clark, dropped him to the ground. One of them bent over and tied a meteor necklace around his neck. Clark tried to move but he was helpless.  
  
"Sampson? Press Mr. Kent here." Swann said.  
  
Another man walked up to Jonathan and punched him. Jonathan fell to the ground and clutched his bleeding nose.  
  
"Where is the ship?" Sampson demanded.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jonathan said.  
  
"Wrong answer." Sampson said and he punched Jonathan in the eye. "Where's the ship?"  
  
"I said I don't know what you're talking about." Jonathan said. "What ship?"  
  
Sampson leered at Jonathan before kicking him in the gut. Jonathan doubled over clutching his gut.  
  
"Stop it." Clark said weakly. "I'll tell you where it is."  
  
"Clark, don't." Jonathan said weakly.  
  
"I have to dad. I don't want to see you get hurt." Clark replied, forcing a weak smile.  
  
"Oh a Kodak moment." Swann sneered.  
  
Sampson walked over to Clark and took a meteor rock out of his pocket and pressed his against Clark's cheek. Clark squirmed in pain.  
  
"So where is it?" Sampson asked.  
  
"I'll tell you and come quietly as long as you promise to let them go." Clark said gesturing over to his friends and family.  
  
Swann eyed him before agreeing. "Deal." Swann said. "Now where is the ship?"  
  
"Storm cellar." Clark replied. "Under the tarp."  
  
"Storm cellar? Interesting hiding spot." Swann said. "Kind of obvious though."  
  
Two men ran down to the storm cellar and went down the steps. Finally after five minutes, one of them came back up.  
  
"We can't open it." He called out. "But there is an octagonal recess."  
  
"Kal'El? Is that a like a key hole?" Swann asked.  
  
"My name is Clark Kent." Clark said.  
  
"Is it?" Swann said ignoring Clark.  
  
Clark refused to answer so Sampson walked over and grabbed a regular pistol out of his belt. He pointed it at Clark.  
  
"You want me to shoot you Clark?" Sampson asked.  
  
Clark reached up and showed his hand palm up. "Regular bullets won't hurt me." Clark said.  
  
Sampson smirked. "They may not hurt you but they will kill them." Sampson said pointing the gun at Lana.  
  
"No don't you dare!" Clark said. His eyes started to glow orange and he shot a heat beam at Sampson's arm. Sampson watched as his jacket was set on fire but he took the sleeve of his other jacket and simply slapped the fire out in one hit.  
  
"Fire proof jacket." Sampson said with a smirk. "I know all of your abilities Clark, and your weaknesses."  
  
"The key is in the tool box in the barn." Clark said.  
  
While a man went to fetch the key, several man took chains down to the storm cellar and attached them to the ship while the other men tied the ends of the chains to the trucks. They dragged the ship out of the storm cellar.  
  
Clark avoided Chloe and Lana's questioning eyes and instead concentrated on getting the meteor rock away from his neck but he was failing. Clark saw that it was futile so instead he crawled weakly over to where his mother was kneeling, crying.  
  
"I love you mom." Clark said. Martha looked up and he kissed her on the fore head. "Thank you for finding me."  
  
"But we didn't find you honey." Martha said. "You found us."  
  
Clark smiled and he felt his eyes had started to tear up. "If I find a way out. I promise that I will come back. Nobody can keep me from my mom." Clark said adamantly.  
  
"Son. Whatever happens, you know that we love you right?" Jonathan said.  
  
"Yeah Dad I know." Clark said.  
  
"And we never cared about where you came from. All we saw was our son." Jonathan said.  
  
By then Swann was tired of the sentimentality. "Come on boys. Load him up."  
  
Two men came and grabbed Clark by his armpits and started to drag him away. He kicked and screamed, looking more like the young boy that the Kent's had found. Clark started to cry freely and his pleas fell on deaf ears.  
  
"Don't take me away please. Don't!" Clark screamed. "Mommy! Daddy! Don't take me away from them. Please don't! I don't want to go away! I don't want to be sent away again! Please don't! Please don't!"  
  
Chloe and Lana both felt their hearts break at Clark screamed. Lana could feel the tears cascading down her cheeks. The man she secretly loved was being taken away from her.  
  
Swann was wheeled away beaming while the men got into their vehicles. Even as the men drove away, they all could still hear Clark's cries.  
  
Jonathan finally was able to work out of his bonds. He quickly untied Pete and then he untied Martha while Pete untied Chloe and Lana.  
  
Jonathan helped Martha up and she collapsed into his arms sobbing. Jonathan held Martha tightly and rocked back and forth, tears falling from his own eyes.  
  
"They took our son away." Martha sobbed. "They took him away like he was just a lab rat."  
  
Jonathan didn't know what to say. There really wasn't anything he could say. It was true, his son was taken away to some place to be tested and prodded. It was inhuman what they did.  
  
"There has to be something we can do." Pete said, finally speaking up. "The CIA just can't take Clark away."  
  
"What can we do Pete?" Jonathan asked. "No one is going to believe us."  
  
"But there has to be something." Pete persisted. "There just has to be."  
  
"Pete we have been fearing this day since the day Clark pulled us out from our overturn truck." Jonathan said.  
  
Martha just continued to cry into Jonathan's shirt thinking about all the horrible things that they might do to Clark.  
  
TBC 


	3. Empty

Chapter 3: Empty  
  
It was all Martha could do, not to completely break down. Although anyone looking at her would think that she had. She was hanging on by a thread. She felt Jonathan's arms wrap around her even more tightly, protecting her and trying to shield life's cruelness away from her. But it was too late. She witnessed her husband beaten and then her son taken away.  
  
Martha just kept thinking about it over and over again. There was no way to block the memories that were so fresh in her mind. So all Martha could was hand on a little bit and cry in her husband's arms.  
  
Lana looked over to Pete and saw that he too was crying. She was shocked and yet touched by his emotion that he was so willing to share. Pete looked over and she saw that he looked like a scared and lost little boy.  
  
"What happened?" Lana whispered to herself. She kept going over the last half hour in her mind.  
  
Pete wiped his tears away. "Swann betrayed Clark that's what." Pete said angrily. His voice cracked when he said the next part. "And I helped."  
  
"What?" Chloe rounded on him.  
  
"I helped Clark get in contact with the creep." Pete said. "We should've known that it was dangerous."  
  
Lana sat back down on the picnic table. She looked around. Pete was beating himself up, Jonathan and Martha were tied up in their own grief and Chloe just stood there, the only one looking sane and keeping her cool.  
  
But when Chloe turned and looked into Lana's eyes, Lana could see her own confusion reflected back at her. Chloe slowly walked over and sat next to Lana.  
  
"Clark's coming back right?" Chloe asked.  
  
"I don't know. I don't even know what happened." Lana said looking around again.  
  
Martha pulled away from Jonathan and made a few uneasy steps toward the house and then she nearly fainter. Jonathan caught her and carried her into the house. Pete followed and then after about five minutes, so did Chloe and Lana.  
  
Chloe stopped outside of the door and grabbed a hold of Lana. "Wait. Let's listen in and see if we can get some answers." Chloe whispered.  
  
Lana nodded in agreements. It was Pete that talked first. "I'm really sorry Mr. And Mrs. Kent." Pete said gruffly.  
  
"It's not your fault Pete. You weren't responsible." Jonathan said.  
  
"I can't believe this happened!" Pete said slamming his fist on the counter. "Clark never gets a break does he?"  
  
"We should have never let him out of our sight." Martha said quietly. "We should have kept him on the farm. Kept him safe and way from the prying eyes of others."  
  
"Martha you know that isn't true." Jonathan reasoned. "He would have run off a long time ago had we done that. We would have alienated him even more than he already is." Jonathan immediately winced and saw his mistake in words.  
  
Martha grew angry. "That is a disgusting word." Martha spat. Tears began to fall all over again. "That stupid disgusting word. It shouldn't count for anything. He is our son. No matter where he is from."  
  
"Martha we knew the dangers of taking him in." Jonathan said with a heavy heart. "Remember when we first adopted him. We were constantly scared that this would happen."  
  
"But it never did." Martha argued. "Till now."  
  
"You know that I will do anything to help." Pete said. "Clark's my brother no matter who he is and no matter what he is."  
  
"Couldn't he just break out?" Martha asked quietly.  
  
Jonathan shook his head sadly. "There is no way. They have meteor rocks." Jonathan said. "It'll drain him completely."  
  
"Do you think they have red meteor rocks?" Pete asked anxiously.  
  
"Probably. If they are going to experiment on him then they probably have been researching him and the different effects." Jonathan replied.  
  
Martha started to cry again. "I don't want Clark to go through all that!" Martha wailed. "He doesn't deserve it. Clark has saved so many lives and touched so many. How could anyone experiment on him? He's a good kid."  
  
"Maybe the ship was right." Jonathan said sitting down. "We are a flawed race. I mean we kill each other over stupid disputes. So why should it be any different with Clark?"  
  
Pete couldn't stand this. "We have to find him before it's too late!" Pete said. "Let's call the cops."  
  
"They would never believe us." Jonathan said. "It's not like we could call them up and say: 'Yes sir a group of a hundred men from the government came here and took our son away to experiment on him. Why would they do that sir? Oh it's because Clark isn't from around here. You see he's an alien that came down the day of the meteor showers.' They would laugh at us and then probably lock me up."  
  
Chloe looked over at Lana bug eyed. Clark's an alien? Chloe mouthed. Lana shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"What are we going to do? We can't go to the authorities but we can't just leave Clark to those bastards!" Pete said angrily. "I'm going to grab my bike and follow those creeps."  
  
"No Pete." Jonathan said clapping him on the shoulder. "Clark would never forgive himself if you got hurt."  
  
"That's Clark's problem!" Pete said. "He always feels guilty. If he had run, he would still be with us."  
  
"But we all know Clark." Martha said with a weak smile. "Thinks of everyone before him and then he still feels that it isn't enough. And it doesn't matter if there is green meteor rocks around or red.he still tries."  
  
Martha got teary eyed again and she got up from the couch. She touched a picture on the mantle of Clark when he was little. Suddenly she spun around. "Where are the girls?" Martha asked quietly.  
  
Pete walked over to the door and spotted them right outside the door listening in. Uh oh. Busted. Chloe thought.  
  
Pete opened the door and held it open for them. Chloe and Lana entered the house, their cheeks burning with guilt and the fact that they were caught.  
  
Jonathan sighed at the girls knowing that they probably heard everything. "Well now that you know about Clark, I think we should talk now." Jonathan said looking over at Martha.  
  
TBC  
  
Sorry for taking so long to do this update. First I finished the chapter and then my computer froze and deleted the story. Then when I rewrote the chapter, Fan Fiction wasn't working. But if you are reading this, well then I think that all the problems have been resolved. 


	4. Begging

Chapter 4:Begging  
  
Clark watched with a heavy heart as they drove out of the farm area. Even though he was so far away, he super eyesight could still see his family and friends tied up. Clark struggled a bit but one of the agents in the car pressed a piece of meteorite to his forehead, forcing pain and incoherent thoughts into his head. He grunted in pain and felt the tears start to fall again.  
  
Clark remembered that right after he found out what he was, he had watched the movie ET. At first it was cute but when they got to the part where the scientists kidnapped ET, Clark couldn't watch it any more. He had nightmares that night. But nothing compared to this. The REAL thing was happening to him and it was scarier then he could ever have imagined or dreamed.  
  
One of the men turned and saw the tears in Clark's eyes. He laughed. "Look at the freak. He's crying." The man taunted.  
  
Instead of rising to the bait, Clark continued to silently cry. Swann spun his chair around to look at Clark.  
  
"It's ok Kal'El." Swann said soothingly. "It won't be all that bad."  
  
That only made Clark shiver uncontrollably. He began to imagine all of the horrible things that they were going to do to him and wished for death.  
  
They drove on and nobody paid attention to Clark. They really didn't have too. He was too sick from all the meteor rocks around him. The thing that surprised him was that he hadn't fainted yet. By now he should have been out cold.  
  
"Please Swann." Clark began. "Let me go home."  
  
"But I can't Kal'El." Swann said. "I have been searching for you for 14 years. Do you really think that I will just let you go because you asked?" Swann laughed darkly.  
  
"Will you take me home after your done with me?" Clark asked hopefully.  
  
"No I think I will keep you for the rest of your life, depending on how long that will be." Swann said.  
  
"Why?" Clark asked. "Why are you doing this?"  
  
"The opportunities are just too numerous to pass up." Swann said.  
  
Clark tried to talk again but he found that he had lost the strength. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted.  
  
Clark awoke hours later in a white room. There wasn't much in the room. He was on a small bed with white sheets. There were no tables or anything. There was a video camera at ever corner of the room and two doors. The one door was just plain wood and it was ajar, letting Clark see a basic bathroom. The other door was a large metal one, titanium. It had meteor rocks laced in it.  
  
Clark sat up and thought for a few moments. He didn't know where he was or how long he was out cold. Clark swung his legs over the bed and tried to stand up but fell back down. He was dizzy and felt nauseated. He put his head between his legs, taking deep breaths. Clark weakly shifted himself so he was back on the bed, lying down.  
  
After a little while, he felt a little bit and then tried to use his x-ray vision. But the walls were made of lead. Swann had definitely done his homework on Clark.  
  
It started to feel as though hours had past, although in reality it was only about fifteen minutes. Clark was getting pretty damn bored and pissed off. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the door open, revealing three men all dressed in white contamination suits with black glass covering their faces.  
  
Two of the men grabbed Clark roughly by the arms, holding him down while the third man took out a syringe. The metal must have had some alloy made with refined meteor rocks because it easily broke through Clark's usually impenetrable skin.  
  
The man took a sample of Clark's blood and then pulled out another syringe, this one filled with some kind of liquid. He injected it into Clark's arm. All this time Clark didn't struggle. He knew that it would probably be better for him not to fight the guys. Also he was a little curious. He had never really scene his own blood before.  
  
Next the men cut some of his hair off and cut his fingernails. After that, they forced Clark's mouth open and they swabbed his tongue and sides of his mouths.  
  
Clark started to feel light headed and he slumped, becoming a dead weight in the arms of the men who were holding him down. The man who had taken the samples handed the bag over to one of the men and that man exited.  
  
Then bending over, the man whispered into Clark's ear. "We'll be back soon to start the real testing. So don't worry your disgusting little alien head." The man said. He laughed and then motioned for the other man to leave with him. Clark just lay there, going over what had just happened and what the man had said.  
  
The tears fell down Clark's face again when it really sunk in. He was stuck here and he was never getting out. How was he supposed to when there was meteor rocks all over the place? Clark moved into the fetal position, crying and shaking. He wanted him mom so bad. Clark pinched himself, hoping that this was just a bad dream. He wanted so badly to wake up in his own room in his own bed. He would run out of his room and jump into his mother's arms like he use to when he was younger. He didn't care if he was nearly 18 years old. He didn't want to go through this. He prayed to whatever god was there to let him have mercy on him and to let him just go home. But his prayer was answered that night.  
  
Thinking this all over, he tightened his position further and felt himself slowly fall asleep. But he woke up not ten minutes later to men with needles and various instruments.  
  
TBC  
  
Hope you guys liked the chapter. I know that I making this story depressing but that's how I like this one to be. There will be an eventual Clark/Lana relationship but it won't be until the end. Not saying anything else though. 


	5. Understanding

Ok you are going to think I am pretty damn weird but I was reading my own fic and I got pissed off. I was all like "What happens next?" and that's when I realized this was my fic. So then I checked my hard drive and found this. The chapter I hadn't posted. So now I think I will post it. So here you go. The long awaited update!  
  
Chapter 5: Understanding  
  
The silence was deafening. Every sat around the table in their own thoughts, not voicing any of them. Jonathan, Martha and Pete were note surprised by Chloe and Lana's lack of conversation. It was a lot to take in about their best friend and love interest.  
  
"So how did you actually find Clark?" Lana asked quietly.  
  
Martha smiled. For a day filled with such tragedy, it held her fondest memory of Clark.  
  
"We had just left the flower shop and driving down the street when this huge fireball crashed right in front of us." Jonathan said. He too was smiling. "It flipped us right over. We both fell unconscious but when we came to, there was Clark in his birthday suit."  
  
"He ran over to my side of the truck and pulled the door right off of it's hinges and then helped me out." Martha said her eyes slightly glazed as though she was reliving it all over again rather then just talking about it. "He then ran over to Jonathan's side and did the same thing."  
  
"After I got out of the truck, I turned to see that Clark had already ran over to Martha and jumped right into her arms like it was meant to be." Jonathan said. "At first I said that there was no way we could keep him. It's not like we could just say that we found him."  
  
"But I argued that we didn't find him. He found us." Martha said. She turned to Lana. "You know you made a wish come true that day."  
  
Lana smiled and nodded her head. She actually could remember Martha coming in to the flower shop that day and playing with Lana. Lana could even remember the look of want written all over Martha's face.  
  
Chloe laughed though. "So Clark had his whole 'Hero Complex' even when he was three?" Chloe asked.  
  
"He always has." Martha said nodding her head. "Clark always felt as though he needed to repay the town for the meteor shower and the after affects."  
  
Pete shook his head. "He always felt so guilty when he couldn't save someone. But we all tried to explain he couldn't be every where at once." Pete said. He gave Lana a smile. "Especially when it came to you. And especially after his short lived rebellion."  
  
"I always wondered about that." Lana said quietly. "His sudden change in attitude."  
  
"Yeah well it was definitely unexpected." Jonathan said. "Some how though, Clark always managed to keep things very interesting. Seeing how we live on a farm and all."  
  
"Yeah I remember how we got through all of his-uh-developments." Martha said. She started to giggle. "It took two scarecrows, our mailbox and a few other items to get his heat vision under control."  
  
Jonathan and Pete laughed along too. Clark had been so embarrassed when he discovered what was exactly turning it on and off. After Pete had found out about Clark, he never let Clark live it down, but then again who would?  
  
"Why didn't he ever tell us?" Chloe asked.  
  
Pete decided he would answer this one. "Two reasons." Pete said. He held up a finger. "One, Mr. And Mrs. Kent didn't allow him too and it was dangerous." Pete held up a second finger. "Two, he was scared that if he had told you guys, you would freak out like I did." Pete looked down ashamed.  
  
"You freaked out?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Well yeah sort of." Pete said. "I found his ship and then I accused him of stealing it and well it got complicated. But then he saved my life and risked his exposure even after I called him a freak. I realized then that it was the same Clark I knew before and he always will be."  
  
"There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't wish he could tell you two." Martha said. "He knew that his secret drove wedges and gaps into his friendships."  
  
"He definitely didn't want that to happen." Pete said shaking his head. "He already felt so alone."  
  
"What do you mean alone?" Lana asked.  
  
"Well from what we have recently found out, Clark's entire race is dead and he is the last one." Jonathan said.  
  
"This is so-I don't know-Twilight Zone-ish." Chloe said.  
  
"Think about how Clark felt when I told him about him being from another planet." Jonathan said. "We kept it from him. He never knew that he was an alien, just different. The day I told him, he flipped and sped out of here faster than he ever has before. It was freaky for him because he found out his was invulnerable and an alien in one day."  
  
A gloom settled over the group and the nostalgia moment had to be broken. "So what are we going to do know?" Chloe asked, the one breaking it.  
  
Jonathan sighed. "I don't know. I'm not even sure there is anything for us to do." Jonathan said.  
  
"Where would they take him?" Lana asked.  
  
"Either New York or Metropolis." Pete said.  
  
"I could understand Metropolis but why New York?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Because that is where Swann's observatory is." Jonathan said. Jonathan slammed his fist into the table. "Damn it all! I swear if I ever get near Swann I will strangle him, wheelchair or no wheelchair."  
  
Martha put her hand on Jonathan's arm to calm him down. "You wanted to do that with Nixon too but it still won't be right." Martha said. "I think that Clark would see it as his fault."  
  
"Roger Nixon? The reporter from the Inquisitor?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Yeah. He found Clark's ship during the twister and was going to expose Clark. But when he tried to shoot Jonathan, Lex shot Nixon first." Martha said.  
  
Lana suddenly perked up a bit. "Do you know what happened in the twister?" Lana asked.  
  
Chloe slightly cringed at this. The Spring Formal was still a slightly opened wound that would twinge when anyone brought it up.  
  
"If you're wondering if Clark was in it, yes he was." Martha asked. "He told us about it later. He used his body to shield yours."  
  
"Well were getting a bit off topic now." Pete said. "How about we come up with some sort of game plan."  
  
"How are we going to find Clark?" Jonathan said.  
  
"I can do some checking. I can remember a few license plates I saw." Chloe offered. "I'll also go through my Swann files and see if I might of over looked anything."  
  
"Thanks Chloe." Martha said.  
  
"I'll go to Metropolis." Pete said. "Maybe I can find some things out there."  
  
"I'll go with Pete." Lana said. "Chloe has taught me a few tricks." Lana smiled at Chloe and Chloe returned it.  
  
"I'll go to New York and see if I can get into Swann's place." Jonathan said.  
  
"I think I'll go to New York with Jonathan." Martha said.  
  
"Well there we have it. All of us have jobs to do. We should start tomorrow." Pete said. "I'll pick you up at 7:30 if you want." Pete turned to Lana.  
  
"Yeah sure." Lana said nodding.  
  
They all said their goodbyes and left, going their separate ways. Deep down, Martha and Jonathan knew that Clark would be touched by his friend's determination. They were.  
  
TBC 


End file.
